大部分的畫家都會在意自己的創作風格，無論有意無意都會貫徹地反映在作品中。但對ylem graph來說，隨心比較重要，「我時常追求新或是自己覺得酷的技巧手法。因為我不想執着於一樣東西。」，他是一名畫家，日間是一名熱愛音樂、電影、藝術和時裝的上班族。一直以手繪方式的他，近年才開始把自己的作品放到社交媒體上，「昔日即使創作，卻只有很少工具可以讓世人看，創作活動不及現時活躍。可是，自從Instagram變得普及，我能將自己的作品向全世界傳遞，令我更有意欲去創作。」
而他的帳號也漸漸得到了越來越多人的關注。作品沒有特定的題材，手法靈活多變，瀏覽時像在閱讀他個人的繪畫日記；上星期圍繞的是這套電影的男主角，這幾天就在畫那一個品牌的東西，總是令人意想不到。「我繪畫自己認為酷的人與物。我很重視創作一些觀者會覺得有趣的作品，譬如將不同的東西組合一起，或是將線條作極端的扭曲，又或是嘗試改變不同部份的配置等等。」在他的多個繪畫風格中，「blurred style」吸引了大家的眼球，「說到模糊，在日本有負面的形象，如令東西變得含混不清又或是作假等等。但是藉模糊化，可以得出各式各樣的看法。」，他續說，「我認為模糊化最妙之處，是能讓觀者自由構想故事。『blurred style』的作品不能夠以線與線作分界。顏色之間的交疊，將邊界控制得恰到好處。從模糊化而生的漸變真的很美。」他解釋道。
我們的大腦在看圖像時，會尋找基本特徵去辨識與解讀圖像。如果你一眼已經可以看明白『blurred style』中的人物，代表他把那人物中的特徵準確地抓住了，然後用自己獨特的方式演繹，與觀者無形中建立了一個連結。朦朧柔和的顏色裏，人物的風格及神態顯得更為重要，最近描繪的mr tk在他眼中就有著鮮明的風格，「mr tk確立了帽子配以太陽眼鏡的風格。而只利用黑白色去展示這個風格十分困難。但是，完成作品後，卻認為跟黑白色與『blurred style』如此配合的別無他人。」能夠輕易的提綱挈領，是令人艷羨的能力。
「我並沒有什麼特定的計劃。我只是在自己喜歡的時間繪畫自己喜歡的東西，繼而希望其他人會看。然而，假如有欣賞我作品的人提出想跟我合作，我什麼也想嘗試。」ylem graph說道。當做的事情是自己由衷喜歡的，帶著最純粹的想法，隨心地、有趣地做，應該就會一直做下去吧。
Most artists are conscious of their own artistic style, which can be usually reflected in their work. ylem graph is a rather different case. He cares more about expressing himself freely through art. “I have strong cravings for trying new styles or any techniques that would arouse me. I don’t like to be obsessed with one single thing,” says ylem graph, the artist/salaryman who has a strong passion for music, film, and art. ylem graph mostly draws on paper. It was only until recently did he start sharing his work on social media. “There were not so many platforms for showing one’s art back in the days, so I wasn’t as active before. With the popularity of Instagram, I can easily communicate with the world through my art. This has given me more motivation to create.”
ylem graph is seeing an increasing number of followers on his Instagram account, where he posts his art of a great variety of themes and styles. Scrolling through his Instagram is like seeing his art journal that is full of surprises; sometimes it can be a series of drawings of a male protagonist of a film, sometimes it can be drawings of some iconic products of a brand. “I like to draw things, people, or characters that I find cool. It means a lot to me to draw things that can be interesting to my viewers. For example, I would put many different things into a collage, add some twisted lines to my drawings, or tweak a certain component of the drawings.” Among his many drawing techniques, the most intriguing one is probably the “blurred style”. “Blurry somehow has a negative connotation in Japanese culture. People relate “blurry” to intentionally making things unclear or even faking things up. But the blurry state, to me, can create a new perspective,” says ylem graph, “The most amazing thing of ‘blurred style’ is how it allows viewers to have imagination. It is not enclosed by any solid lines, instead, different colors and shades overlap with one another to create a loose but precise boundary. I found the gradient created by blurred images enchanting.”
When looking at an image, our brain would look for some basic features to interpret it. If you can identify the characters in ylem graph “blurred style” drawings at first glance, it means he has vividly captured the main features of those characters and successfully interpreted them in his own style to connect with his viewers. Without applying catchy bright colors, ylem graph needs to rely on the characters’ styles and gestures to make it recognizable to the viewers. His recent portrait on mr tk is a good example of drawing a person with a distinctive style, “mr tk is a trendsetter on pairing hats with sunglasses. It is not easy to depict his image with only black and white colors. However, when I finished drawing, I realized I cannot find another person that suits black and white ‘blurred style’ better than him.” ylem graph’s ability to portray a person or a character using the iconic features is a truly admirable skill.
“I don’t have any plans in particular. All I am doing is to draw what I like whenever I feel like doing it, and hoping my drawings would be seen by other people. If there is someone out there who appreciates my work and proposes a collaboration, I think I will give it a try,” says ylem graph. I believe we can all keep our passion going as long as we keep it fun, authentic and liberal.
